Staff Profile

Career Summary

Biography

Kris Smith is a lecturer in the School of Creative Arts, Faculty of Education and Arts at the University of Newcastle. This role follows on from a professional career as a practising artist in the fields of photography, multimedia, graphic design, painting, printmaking and project-based community arts practice.

As an art practitioner his research has been showcased at such venues as the Pearl Street Gallery, Brooklyn New York; Wieliczka Gallery, Poland; Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA); The Art Gallery of NSW; Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery; the University of North Carolina and the SMARTlab, University of East London.

Kris has most recently been a Chief Investigator on “The Growing Up with Cancer” project, which has been supported under the Australian Research Council's Linkage Projects funding scheme. This project used traditional and creative practice research to understand the experience of having cancer during adolescence and young adulthood. It brought together researchers, artists, advocates and clinicians at the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and CanTeen – the Australian organisation for young people living with cancer. Those engaged in this project not only participated in interviews, but also collaborated with Kris or worked on their own to produce a self-portrait that represented them and the impact of cancer on their experience of growing up. These works have been shown at eight venues within Australia including hospitals, and community, art and education spaces. The imagery and research has been published, and presented at international conferences in Australia and the UK.

Currently Kris is working with the Hunter Medical Research Institute to showcase their research through a range of public video projections as part of Newcastle’s City Evolutions Project.

Qualifications

Master of Fine Art, University of Newcastle, 13/09/2007

Diploma in Art, Newcastle College of Advanced Education, 08/05/1981

Graduate Diploma of Art, Newcastle College of Advanced Education, 07/05/1982

Research

Research keywords

Digital Animation

Digital Photomedia

Hybrid Photomedia

Time-lapse Photography

Traditional Photomedia

Research expertise

Concepts of time and properties of light are a primary focus of recent works.

Using time-lapse photography; the path of the sun and the consequent changing colour temperature of light throughout a day is documented in a range of environments. Photographs and digital animations are constructed that emphasize these qualities of light and the impact of apparently subtle changes that occur over time. The images are usually presented as a combination of large-scale digital prints and digital projections.

Underpinning the work are studies of pre-cinema time-lapse photography and modernist films of the 1920's investigating time as the fourth dimension in art.

Results of this current research have been presented at such venues as the Art Gallery of NSW, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Gosford Regional Gallery and the University of North Carolina.

Smith KA, Works on Paper, McMaster Gallery - University of South Carolina, South Carolina (2003) [J2]

2005

Smith K, Home is where the art is: An exhibition of works by artists from the Newcastle Region, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (2005) [J2]

The work is an installation titled Still Life Moments. The still life genre has its origins in ancient times, but has been most popular in Western art since the 17th century. It is by its very nature a static analysis of a collection of objects from a fixed viewpoint, usually composed in an interior setting. The digital prints and animations produced for the exhibition Home is where the art is challenged this approach and questioned the genres relevance to contemporary art practice. The centrepiece of the installation was a multi-faceted time-lapse animation projected onto the top surface of a table style gallery plinth. Inspired by cubism, this kaleidoscopic animated image re-presented a sunlit version of a traditional viewpoint juxtaposed with views from below photographed through both clear and diffused glass over a fourteen-hour period.
By isolating components of objects and documenting the discreet movement of daylight in otherwise unchanging environments, new insights are gained into the nature of diurnal and seasonal time rhythms, while at the same time enhancing the viewers understanding of reflected light dynamics: and in this particular case, redefining the concept of a still life.
Participation in the exhibition was by invitation only. This was a major group show in which the work appeared alongside more traditional approaches to the genre, including paintings, sculptures and linocut prints. The research was disseminated via a professional full colour published catalogue and a seminar held in the gallery during the exhibition period

Smith K, Home is where the art is: An exhibition of works by artists from the Newcastle Region, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (2005) [J2]

The work is an installation titled Still Life Moments. The still life genre has its origins in ancient times, but has been most popular in Western art since the 17th century. It is by its very nature a static analysis of a collection of objects from a fixed viewpoint, usually composed in an interior setting. The digital prints and animations produced for the exhibition Home is where the art is challenged this approach and questioned the genres relevance to contemporary art practice. The centrepiece of the installation was a multi-faceted time-lapse animation projected onto the top surface of a table style gallery plinth. Inspired by cubism, this kaleidoscopic animated image re-presented a sunlit version of a traditional viewpoint juxtaposed with views from below photographed through both clear and diffused glass over a fourteen-hour period.
By isolating components of objects and documenting the discreet movement of daylight in otherwise unchanging environments, new insights are gained into the nature of diurnal and seasonal time rhythms, while at the same time enhancing the viewers understanding of reflected light dynamics: and in this particular case, redefining the concept of a still life.
Participation in the exhibition was by invitation only. This was a major group show in which the work appeared alongside more traditional approaches to the genre, including paintings, sculptures and linocut prints. The research was disseminated via a professional full colour published catalogue and a seminar held in the gallery during the exhibition period